One said she had hidden in a tree overnight, while another said she had fled
after being put in a truck and taken into a forest.

The first thing the Boko Haram insurgents did when they stopped to camp in
the forest near a village called Baale after the kidnapping, was put some of
the girls to work cooking looted food.

Lucky escape ... One of the Chibok school girls who escaped from the Boko Haram Islamists. Pic: AFP

Others were taken at gunpoint to carry water. “I was one of those chosen to
cook,” a 16-year-old said in a phone interview, recalling the kidnapping last
month of more than 300 girls at a boarding school in Chibok.

The girl said her mind raced as she stirred the pot of rice over a wood
fire. The Boko Haram gunmen had the group surrounded, constantly watching

“My mind was busy, thinking of a way to escape,” she said. “I and two other
girls were close together, speaking softly, and we came up with a plan.”

The girls told the gunmen they needed to relieve themselves. They were allowed
to walk into the bush.

“As soon as we were out of sight of the gunmen, we fled and we ran for about
two hours,” the girl said. Eventually, the three stumbled across a group of
Fulani herders, who rescued them.

Another girl told of bravely escaping under a hail of gunfire.

“They
took us away in a convoy of lorries. We travelled through the night
before reaching the final destination in the forest,” she said.

“The following day we were sent to fetch water. That was when we seized the opportunity and bolted.

“Even when they were shooting at us, we took the chance and Gold helped us arrive in Chibok two days later.”